Woman loses 21L in money laundering scam

Pune: Cybercrooks, who posed as officers from TRAI , CBI , and even a Supreme Court Judge , duped a 39-year-old woman from Pimple Saudagar of Rs21 lakh by scaring her by saying her Aadhaar card number was misused for money laundering. The fraud occurred between June 26 and July 4 this year. The crooks told the woman to transfer her money to a bank account for verification purposes and duped her. The woman lodged a complaint with the Sangvi police on Saturday.

Inspector Amol Nandekar of the Sangvi police told TOI that the woman, who is well-educated, works with a private company in Pimpri Chinchwad. According to the complainant, on June 26, she received a call from an unknown cellphone number. The caller introduced himself as an officer from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and told her that someone obtained a SIM card by misusing her Aadhaar details. He also told the woman that the person sent obscene photographs and lewd messages to several people from that SIM number.

"The man told the woman that the department had several complaints against her and even a case of money laundering was registered against her, which was being investigated by the Mumbai crime branch and CBI," Nandekar said. The officer said that the woman was told to download a telecommunication app and a ‘senior officer' from Mumbai police spoke with the woman. Later, the crooks claimed to be the director of CBI and a ‘Supreme Court Judge' told the woman that she could be arrested in the money laundering case.

"The woman was then told that the CBI needed to verify her bank account. They took the details of her balance and told her to transfer the money to a bank account. The crooks promised her to return the money after the verification," the officer said. Nandekar said that the terrified woman transferred Rs21 lakh to a bank account number provided to her. While the woman was waiting to get her money back, she received a call from another unknown person.

"The caller told her that earlier she was dealing with fraudulent people and told her to give all details about the case to him. She then became suspicious and approached us," Nandekar said. He said that a case under sections 308 (extortion), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the relevant sections of the Information and Technology Act was registered against the unknown persons. "Our investigations are on," he said.

Pune: Cybercrooks, who posed as officers from TRAI, CBI, and even a Supreme Court Judge, duped a 39-year-old woman from Pimple Saudagar of Rs21 lakh by scaring her by saying her Aadhaar card number was misused for money laundering. The fraud occurred between June 26 and July 4 this year. The crooks told the woman to transfer her money to a bank account for verification purposes and duped her. The woman lodged a complaint with the Sangvi police on Saturday.

Inspector Amol Nandekar of the Sangvi police told TOI that the woman, who is well-educated, works with a private company in Pimpri Chinchwad. According to the complainant, on June 26, she received a call from an unknown cellphone number. The caller introduced himself as an officer from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and told her that someone obtained a SIM card by misusing her Aadhaar details. He also told the woman that the person sent obscene photographs and lewd messages to several people from that SIM number.

"The man told the woman that the department had several complaints against her and even a case of money laundering was registered against her, which was being investigated by the Mumbai crime branch and CBI," Nandekar said. The officer said that the woman was told to download a telecommunication app and a ‘senior officer' from Mumbai police spoke with the woman. Later, the crooks claimed to be the director of CBI and a ‘Supreme Court Judge' told the woman that she could be arrested in the money laundering case.

"The woman was then told that the CBI needed to verify her bank account. They took the details of her balance and told her to transfer the money to a bank account. The crooks promised her to return the money after the verification," the officer said. Nandekar said that the terrified woman transferred Rs21 lakh to a bank account number provided to her. While the woman was waiting to get her money back, she received a call from another unknown person.

"The caller told her that earlier she was dealing with fraudulent people and told her to give all details about the case to him. She then became suspicious and approached us," Nandekar said. He said that a case under sections 308 (extortion), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the relevant sections of the Information and Technology Act was registered against the unknown persons. "Our investigations are on," he said.